OUR DAILY BREAD : TO THE RESCUE

[cimi]

MARCH 8
MONDAY


TO THE RESCUE

READ:
Luke 15:1-7
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There will be more joy
in heaven over one
sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine
just persons who need
no repentance.
__Luke 15:7
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Martie and I recently traveled to some major cities in several countries. We were struck with how lost our world is and grieved over the millions who have never heard the message of the saving grace of Jesus. The thought of reaching our world for Christ felt overwhelming.

Until I remembered the story of the boy walking on a beach. Encountering hundreds of starfish dying under the heat of the burning sun, he started throwing them back into the seal. A passerby asked, "What are you doing?" "Saving their lives," they boy replied. "Forget it," the man said. "You can't possibly save all these starfish." "Right," replied the boy, "but it makes a big difference to each one I do save." I love the boy's perspective. When the wave of sin threw us onto the shore to die, God sent His Son to walk on the beach to rescue all who would repent. And, as Jesus told His listeners in Luke 15, each time someone is rescued, heaven throws a party. "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance" (Luke 15:7).

Has heaven rejoiced over your rescue? If so, join the ranks of those who reach other lost souls with the rescuing grace of Jesus. __Joe Stowell
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```````````````Your love, O God, would spare no pain``````````````
`````````````````````To conquer death and win;``````````````````
```````````````````You sent Your only Son to die`````````````````
```````````````To rescue us from sin. __M. Gustafson``````````````
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When you've been rescued,
you'll want to rescue others.

****************Today's Bible Reading __ Luke 15:1-7************

1 Then all the tax
collectors and the sinners
drew near to Him to hear
Him. 2 And the Pharisees
and scribes complained,
saying, "This Man receives
sinners and eats with them."

3 So He spoke this parable
to them, saying:

4 "What man of you,
having a hundred sheep, if
he loses one of them, does
not leave the ninety-nine in
the wilderness, and go after
the one which is lost until
he finds it? 5 And when he
has found it, he lays it on
his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he comes
home, he calls together his
friends and neighbors,
saying to them,, 'Rejoice
with me, for I have found
my sheep which was lost!'

7 I say to you that likewise
there will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety-
nine just persons who need
no repentance."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Luke 15 is one of the greatest collections of Jesus' teachings
anywhere in the Gospel accounts. Here we find our Lord's trilogy of
parables regarding "lost" things. In verses 1-7, we see the lost sheep.
In verses 8-10, He tells of the lost coin. In verses 11-32, the story
of the lost (prodigal) son is told. The two consistent themes in these
stories are that something of value was lost, and that there was great
joy when it was recovered. These parables describe more than our
desperate need--they reveal God's great heart of rescue and His joy
for each lost one that is restored to Him. __BILL CROWDER